


Once a Leader, Now a Follower

by Totally_not_a_Weeb



Category: Dragon's Dogma, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: AU - What happens when a CK2 Player is allowed to write things, Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Characters and tags added when needed, F/F, F/M, Gen, Merciless Criticism is wanted, Spoilers for Dragon's Dogma, comments welcome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-18
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-09-27 17:38:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10036496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Totally_not_a_Weeb/pseuds/Totally_not_a_Weeb
Summary: What happens when Belle, the Arisen, grows sick of her destiny and the never-ending chain struck a deal that would remove her from her destiny, what she wasn't told about was the catches, new gear, no money, no supplies and a new world. Sometimes Belle should just learn to roll with what is handed to her and to stop complaining.





	1. Character Sheets & Other Things

**Author's Note:**

> I just did this on a whim and toyed with the idea for a while, I decided I would make use of Belle, my arisen, and instead of putting her into Awakening, I put her into Fates instead. Please, do not take mercy with the comments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I need to give a character sheet as I forgot to describe Belle as I was deciding on her appearance myself and I couldn't be bothered describing her. this shall also hold all other character sheets and any other things I feel like it would be prudent to mention.

Character Sheets 

Name - Belle Goodfisher

Age : 25

Previous Titles - The Arisen, The Fisher Knight, Captain of the Wyrmhunt, The Dragon, Duchess Dragonsbane, the Unbreaking, the Scarred

Character description - A warrior who hails from foreign shores and who has experienced far too much and searches for a peaceful life, but knows deep down that she has an wanderlust without end and that her unbreaking will will kill her one day. She enjoys training those weaker than her to fight and learning new skills, she one day plans to write down all her knowledge on swordplay into a book, a goal which would be easier if she fully literate. A rather dominating presence due to her confidence that comes from her multiple years of experience. Unfortunately for her she has a problem with communicating with others as a side effect of living with the pawns, another side effect would be the fact that has a hair-trigger temper, something which is the antithesis of her belief that good teamwork allows an inferior force to defeat a superior one.  
She also despises betrayal and court politics, though she is smart enough to know that not everyone plays by the same rules, so she has begrudgingly learned the basics of intrigue, not like she can apply them with any level of skill but she does know how to save her skin, her experiences in the Duke's court has given her a few trust issues and means that she rarely gets any sleep as she is always watching her back, after-all, its not paranoia if they're actually out to get you. As a result of her fights with monsters she knows exactly how to fight dirty, and how to counter those, including knowledge of blind fighting and low light fighting. She stands at around 5 ft 7, her skin is paler than the moon but is riddled with scars, predominantly along her arms, the result of countless hours of training and countless battles, two more noticeable scars stand out, a vertical scar over her left eye and the scar over her heart that all Arisen bear, her left eye is a sapphire blue and her right is an emerald green, her once long black hair has been cut (and in some cases, burnt) to be short, giving her a more boyish look, the only excess is at the top and a fringe that is often combed towards the left of her face in an attempt to hide her left eye. She also has small breasts.

Current Class - Wanderer (Custom Class) A wandering warrior who wanders without aim or purpose, fights off enemies with knives and swords.

Weapon Ranks -

Swords - B

Knives - E

Skills -

Challenge Lover - When confronted with unfavorable odds she grins and faces it head on, + 1 to Attack, + 1 Defense

The Bigger they are ... - When confronted with an opponent who towers over her she knows that their size means nothing in the long run - + 2 Dodge, + 1 Attack, + 5% Critical Chance, + 3 Speed

Unbreakable will - Her will is made of steel and hardened in the fire of the Wyrm, she refuses to back down - + 2 Defense and Attack when under a quarter health, activation chance chance 1%

Arisen Bonds - When fighting alongside another Arisen the bonds forged in the fire of the Wyrm emboldens her and compels her to fight harder, if only to maintain appearances - + 2 Attack, +1 Defense, + 1 Dodge, + 5 Speed

So You Will Fight - The presence of a hero on the battlefield, no matter how wounded is a symbol by which an army will rally behind - 5% EXP Gain and +1 Defense to all lower level units in 2 tiles of her

Old Wounds - An old and experienced warrior is a formidable foe but the old wounds they bear are present and can be exploited - Double's enemy damage, Activate chance (1/2 Lck - 25%) + (1/4 Enemy's lck)

Inventory -

Compagnon de Vagabond - A strange blade that fits comfortably in Belle's hands, despite her never holding it before (Belle Only, Rank: B, Uses: Infinite Mt: 10, Hit: 95%,Crt: 2, Avoid: -10%, Rng: 1)

Concoction - 2/3

Beginner's Katana Techniques - A book describing basic katana techniques and how to counter them, contains practice drills as well (0% Read)

Arisen's Bond - A ring that the Arisen would give to those who they love, said to tie the fate of the Arisen and their partner's fate together, for now though, it's strung up and worn as a necklace, +2 Strength, + 5 Lck while equipped

Foreign Knife - A throwing knife that comes from lands unknown, while it is a thin blade, it is a lethal weapon in the right hands (Belle Only, Rank: E, Uses: Infinite Mt: 3, Hit: 100%, Crt: 6, Avoid: +5%, Rng: 1-2)

Travelling Lantern (full) - A lantern that is hung from a belt to illuminate darkness without effecting the combat ability of the wearer, in theory, though running out of oil in the middle of a fight can be jarring

Flint & Steel - A pair of items that is used to light fires, an essential for survival in the wilds, provided you can find them

Stats

Level - 5  
HP - 35  
Str - 12 + 2  
Mag -1  
Skl - 20  
Spd - 13  
Lck - 1 + 5  
Def - 4  
Res - 2  
Mov - 7

List of AU Changes.

-The Continent, the War and the World – The Continent containing the rival kingdoms of Nohr and Hoshido isn’t the only part of the world, there is of course several other islands and other landmasses, which are the homes of small empires, duchies, kingdoms and the occasional merchant republic. The most prominent kingdom being the Kingdom of Silversun, which is generally seen to have a stranglehold on trade around the continent. When war breaks out in earnest between Hoshido and Nohr, it is expected that some of the foreign powers might see it as an opportunity to capture some land for their own, whether by their sword or by dagger.

-Nohr and Economics – Economics are vital to the running of a country, especially one that is preparing for a war, as such the Nohrian economy is focused around the production and selling of weaponry, of course as a result there are smuggling rings that operate in Nohr but those are few and far between as there is a death penalty imposed by the crown. With what Nohr earns from the exporting of weapons is fed into growing the military and buying produce, with a 75/25 split in terms of outgoings.

-Nohrians, Employment and The World – Due to the fact that Nohr is eternally shrouded in darkness, there are few peasants in Nohr with most of the population being employed in the military or in industry, those who aren’t are either outlaws or mercenaries, the outlaws do what is expected while the mercenaries generally wander the globe seeking employment, due to how Nohrians are perceived by the rest of the world as militaristic, it is generally seen by many merchants to be prudent to employ Nohrian mercenaries as they would be the most disciplined, a slight result of this is that a quarter of Silversun’s total military strength is made out of Nohrian mercenaries.

-Hoshido, Mikoto and the Barrier – Queen Mikoto’s barrier which removes a Nohrian’s will to fight is weakened, it will still be strong but it wouldn’t stop a berserker or someone who is cornered, in addition, it won’t stop someone who is fighting for their life, whether they are cornered or not.

-Hoshido and Nohr – The two rival kingdoms have a very strained relationship at the best of times, at the times of the start of this story they are officially at war, but there isn’t much fighting going on and it is mostly just Faceless being summoned against Hoshido and the two opposing armies glaring at each other across the border. The people of both countries have arguably worse relations, the Nohrians view the Hoshidans as indifferent to human suffering, smug and xenophobic as well as soft. While Hoshidans view Nohrians as inherently evil, disloyal and savage, with many believing them to be demons in human form. Though Nohrians are seen as skilled fighters especially with a lance and Hoshidans are seen as skilled sword fighters. Everyone else in the world wishes the two kingdoms would just sign a peace treaty already as it would make trading easier.

-Hoshidans, Employment and The World – Hoshidans have two main ports of call when it comes to employment, join the local militia or farming. Though Hoshido has little in the way of industry, with most weapons being forged by small blacksmiths or by the user of the weapons themselves as part of their initiation ceremony. However though as a result of the faceless attacks, many displaced villagers have become bandits in order to survive, something which Hoshido doesn’t like to acknowledge, even if they do provide good practise for their soldiers.

-Hoshido and Internal Politics – In Hoshido the land is divided up between several Daimyos, who hold their own domains, while the royal family owns the duchy surrounding the capital and some of the baronies that would be on the border, the Daimyos are allowed to wage war between each other but they are not allowed to attack any external powers, this is the policy during peace, however during wartime, all internal wars are to cease and all Daimyos are obligated to give at least 75% of their total military strength to the Crown, all those who do not are declared traitors and they are subject to execution and their families inherit a large fine numbering at over a million gold, with interest, as a result many Daimyos make sure to give their men to the Crown, if only to save their families from such massive debt. Daimyos are also allowed, during peacetime to take the throne of Hoshido for themselves, however many would support the status quo and as such would defend the Crown instead of back the Daimyo’s grab for power. The only nobles who are exempt from giving their troops to the Crown are the clergy and Merchant guilds who are expected instead to provide healing services to the army, while the merchant guilds are expected to provide weaponry, supplies and funds to the army.

-Nohr and Internal Politics – In Nohr the land is divided up between dukes, then counts in the typical feudal hierarchy, vassals are forbidden from declaring war, leading to most of the nobility being skilled in intrigue. Though the nobility is allowed to gain land and power through force of arms if they win the land in a duel, this also leads to the nobility having plenty of experience in personal combat but with little experience in large scale battles. The royal family of Nohr, the von Krakenburgs, worship Anankos along with some members of the court, the majority of Nohrians worship the Dusk Dragon, this leads to friction between the clergy and the royal family as well as the occasional uprising by Religious Zealots, to appease the clergy, they are exempt from any increase in taxes during wartime and they only have to give a few priests to provide the army with their healing services every year. The merchant guilds are expected to pay heavy taxes during wartime though the taxes are heavily relaxed during peacetime. The nobility is expected to give all of their personal retinue and militia to the Crown during war. Unfortunately for the Royal family their council holds a large amount of power, including power to execute, imprison, revoke noble titles and to elect new council members, with the royal family only having the power to appoint commanders and to declare war.

-The Nohrian Royal Army – The Nohrian Royal Army has one distinct advantage, they have an organised officer corps, with power being given based on the skill of the individual and not on the title that individual might hold, as a result there is a chance that even one who is lowborn might gain a position and glory. The army is mostly made up of a core of professional Wyvern Riders and Knights, the large mercenary companies are vassals of the Crown and so they support the Nohrian Army with Mercenaries, Outlaws and Heroes, this makes up the bulk of Nohr’s infantry. Nohr’s cavalry is made up of Cavaliers whose ranks are largely made up of young nobility, typically those who are second or third sons of nobility. The cavalry is supported by the more experienced great knights who make up the head of most cavalry units. All mages in Nohr are loyal to the Crown as the only place which can legally teach magic is owned by the royal family, however this policy means that there are little magi in the Nohrian army, meaning that they often are placed in high regard, with most mages in battles having to move across the front dealing with trouble spots instead of committing like a regular unit.

-The Hoshidan Army – This remains largely unchanged, only they also have access to cavalry, while it is largely inferior to Nohrian cavalry they are still useful and able to hold their own against Nohrian infantry, what they lack in strength they make up for in speed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't think of any other way to point out her bust size.  
> Also her bigger they are skill would mostly apply to faceless but also to mounted units as they would tower over her. Before I forget, Compagnon de Vagabond is French for Vagabond's Companion


	2. A Wanderer Once Again

Belle could best describe herself as a warrior, a myrmidon, she had long since escaped from the endless chain of the arisen and had forsaken her pawns in the process. Quite frankly, she had never been more happy in her life instead of being the prophesied Arisen, she had instead taken on the role of a wanderer, some deals were made, she lost a part of herself and she lost her wealth as well as most of her weapons, she was only left with a new weapon, something called a katana , a lantern with some oil in it, flint and steel, a knapsack and a set of clothes that was not her own, instead of her own familiar set of clothing she was instead wearing some brown leather travelling boots, brown leather gloves, a pair of shorts, a black silk shirt and a purple tail coat. She ran a gloved hand over her left eye, it was one that she could barely see through it to the point where she decided to invest in an eyepatch instead, it made her more striking, unfortunately it wasn’t in the cards and she was stuck with a useless eye.

She looked at the land that she had woken up in, it was bright and sunny, plenty of trees and plants, it was even more plentiful than Gransys and she never thought she would be able to say that, back when she was scurrying through the undergrowth looking for herbs which could be used to heal wounds that she had suffered, she opened her knapsack and saw that there was two throwing knives, two flasks, one filled with clear water, one empty and a potion of some description in it as well, in addition, there was also a somewhat heavy looking book, maybe she would read it then use it to fuel her campfire.

She put the lantern and the flint and steel in the bag and continued on her way. The sun was shining brightly and Belle almost considered taking off her coat but decided against it in order to retain some skin coverage to protect from sunburn, Belle was still walking and she knew what to do, look for a stream or a road and follow that to civilisation, maybe get some clue as to where the hell she was, if she didn’t die or become accused of being a bandit or a traitor to the kingdom, which she knew it was inside the realm of possibility especially considering her luck and how backhanded it was towards her.

She was ashamed to admit but she had limited knowledge of survival techniques, living in Gran Soren had made her soft, more than she would like to admit, considering that a military camp or the inn was never more than a mad dash away, she couldn’t even remember how to skin a deer, she also never knew how to harvest wheat or how to identify mushrooms. She continued walking, knowing that if she stopped she would be wasting valuable daylight.

Eventually (see: at dusk) she found a stream, it looked clean enough in the moonlight reflected upon the water, lending this place an otherworldly feel, though this was actually another world, not Bitterblack Isle, stop thinking that. It was a full moon out and Belle didn’t feel like wearing her lantern as it would act like a big fucking signal to anyone who could care about her location and it was not something she was super keen on giving away her location when she could see somewhat well enough on her own, Bitterblack Isle not only provided her with resources (which she no longer had) but allowed her to learn how to not only fight blind but to see well in low light conditions, these were important skills back home where most mages knew how to cast a spell that would make someone blind, and she reserved judgement as to how useful it would be here. She was following the river downstream, in the hopes of either finding:

A. Civilisation  
B. The Sea  
C. Fucking anyone who knew where the fuck this place was.

Of course, those were her main preferences, she would also be happy finding a monster just so that she would know that she wasn’t alone in this annoying verdant and plentiful land which lacked forests that she could use to hide in or use any of her ranger training in, though the grass was long enough to hide in, in a pinch, she continued walking, just walking. She never thought that she would miss her pawns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Belle's outfit was the outfit I had decided that she would have when I was thinking about shoving her into Awakening as I decided that she would be a retainer of Say'ri, differences being that instead it doesn't have an emblem on the coat (not a retainer) and Belle didn't retain her eyepatch.


	3. Deal Struck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belle remembers the deal that she struck that landed her in ... where ever the hell she was in.

Belle was someone who could not really be called “Sane” or “Normal” while she was sure that she was in control of most of her faculties, the long list of things that she has done has long since made it hard for her to bear such titles, no person in their right mind would go to Bitterblack Ilse willingly, or worse, actually stay there for a while the place was practically made with the sole purpose of fucking over people either through slow attrition, a quick death at the hands of a monster or, Maker Forbid, another wandering Arisen. What she was about to do was possible the most insane thing she had ever done, making a deal with the gods, something that she never thought she would do a few years ago, when she lived in Cassardis, especially considering the fact that the Church tended to hunt down people like that, though it was perfectly manageable now, she was Seneschal, the steward of this world, she was more than ready to talk to a god, if she knew how to do so. She sat on her throne as Seneschal, the all-powerful God of this world, she never liked the throne though, it was made out of stone and was just as uncomfortable as it looked. She felt a presence enter the area, on reflex, she jumped out of her throne, hands on her trusty daggers, Dragon’s Veins, ready to pull them out, legs ready to launch her forward at a second’s notice.  
What she saw was definitely not another Arisen, she hadn’t even made another Arisen, what she saw was a red haired woman, wearing a dull red tunic and brown breeches as well as a pair of brown boots, a dull red cloak with a gold trim, all of the clothes looked expensive, though not too expensive, sort of like what a moderately successful merchant would wear, the woman herself was rather pretty, full defined facial features, her eyes were closed and she was flashing a kind looking business smile showing off her pearly white teeth, her hair was tied into a thick and high ponytail her skin was pale and she looked like some sort of merchant, Belle was almost wondering what the hell was happening, had she finally gone insane? Was this the face of death? Will she be able to buy some cushions for her God throne?  
“Who are you?” Belle asked, her hands wrapping around the hilts of her daggers, like they have done a thousand times before, just waiting for a sudden move or anything that looked like the Godsbane blade.

“You know its typically good form to welcome your guest with something other than a threatening pose.” The woman said, her voice was a big haughty, but playful, like someone would laugh at anything. Her eyes were still closed and she was still flashing that business smile though it was slightly smaller.

“Answer the Question” I said, my hands tightening around my daggers, snarling slightly

“I’m Anna, the Secret Seller” the redhead said, “And I’m here because I heard your request” Belle looked at her, hands gripping her daggers slightly less intensely “But before I abide your request, what are you willing to give up in return?”

That was actually a good question, Belle had a vast wealth of experience as a result of her adventures, she also had acquired enough gold to retire and live the rest of her life in luxury a while back (back when she was fighting Grigori, she thinks, hard to tell, Maker knows how much she would have if she liquidated her assets, probably enough to buy herself a private army and become a countess)  
“One million gold, my most effective equipment and my assets.” Belle said, she was not one for lengthy negations, she would get this done and done quickly, Belle might be a bit rusty with her less effective equipment but she was still quite deadly with it, (she never did like the balancing on her snapdaggers) she still had over a million gold left, oh and she didn’t even offer her healing items, only the assets that would be used to upgrade her gear, Belle was internally smiling. Anna looked shocked and her business smile faltered, did she offer too little?

“That’s … that’s quite something” Anna said after a pause, coughing slightly “So what is your wish?” she continued, her smile was genuine, most be more gold then she regularly earns.

“I wish to leave this world and go to another, better world, one where I am not the prophesied hero.” Belle said earnestly, the praises of a quiet life were sung far too little and she had already had quite a story behind her, adding more to it would be a bitch. Anna cracked her knuckles

“Your offer had me thinking that this was going to be something difficult.” She said, the haughtiness in her voice returned in full force, with a dramatic flourish of her hands, a contract appeared in her left hand, in the right a quill and ink appeared, “Just sign the dotted line, right here,” Anna moved the quill over where the dotted line was, leaving a thin, almost unnoticeable, black line “and I’ll get this underway”  
Belle snatched the quill and signed her name and title, Belle Goodfisher the Dragon, on the paper, she was eager to escape from this world, she had already seen everything that it had to offer, maybe she should have been a bit less eager as she didn’t read the fine print, and well, the devil's in the details.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't resist using the fine print as a joke and I decided that slightly British!Anna would amuse me.  
> Also her nickname Belle the Dragon was one that would amuse me considering the fact that the Duke's title is Dragonsbane.


	4. The First Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belle continues to travel and eventually stumbles across something, obviously she knows the proper procedures for First Contact

Belle was sometimes grateful for her background, while it didn’t give her an actual education (she only learnt to read a few months ago, she had to rely on her pawns which was humiliating) or any social skills (she couldn’t talk a dog onto a meat cart), it did give her one thing, a knowledge of the humble art of fishing, it was this knowledge that she was thankful for as she ate a salmon that she had caught in the river, she cooked it of course, food poisoning was not something that she wanted to deal with, it was quite shitty.

The constant loneliness was getting to her, at one point she swore that she had a conversation with herself that went something like this:

Hey Belle how’s it going?

Not bad Belle, yourself?

A bit worried, Belle if I’m going to be honest, isn’t it said that talking to yourself is the first sign of madness?

That, or it’s the only way to find intelligent conversation, I mean have you tried talking to the pawns?

Yeah, they always told us the same three things that we already bloody knew, “this area is quite verdant, we are on a path, we can get a good view from the top of that tower” and then we said to him “I know that asshole, you want to know how? I was just on the tower, and so were you.” we then took that asshole and threw him off the beachside cliff, just for a laugh.

We then summoned him and threw him off a few more times, its worrying how much joy we took from his screams, good times though?

Good times…

Conversations with herself aside, Belle actually was wondering where the hell was everyone, a good explanation might be that she is approaching the village of Bumfuck, Nowhere and maybe it was a self-sufficient village, or maybe she was just approaching a religious site or a proverbial shitstorm, didn't really matter to her, she just wanted the ability to talk to someone at least remotely intelligent, hell she'll take fighting a monster just so that she can shout insults at it.

She continued walking until she saw … whatever the hell it was she saw, it was about the size of an ogre and half as good looking, its skin was a deep, dull, sickly green, thankfully it wore a pair of threadbare dull brown shorts for decency’s sake, its body was massive and muscled, a pair of shackles decorated its wrists and curiously, its entire head was covered with a wrought iron helmet with several holes in the front to allow for it to see, leather straps held its body together with buckles that looked like they were ready to break, its right arm was slightly out of proportion as well, looking more muscled than the rest of the body.

Belle drew the katana from its sheath, she wasn’t entirely sure how to use it but she was sure that the first thing she had to do was to make use to make use of the sharp end, "Why does every sword I use only have one sharp end it’s just so unpractical and forget it, I’ll be able to make use of it" Belle said to herself in a moment of frustration. She held the blade in two hands and got angled her legs to allow for her to burst forward at a second’s notice, the concept of the strike was elementary, a burst of speed with a sword to throw and enemy off balance, that was the theory, the execution often did not work, especially if the enemy was facing her. The beast had noticed her and started to roar as it broke out of its shackles, if that was a show of its strength then it did not impress her, it began to run towards her, the ground rumbling slightly with each of its steps with more speed than she thought would be capable of a being of that size, Belle felt a predatory grin creep onto her face, she was fighting again, and it felt so damn good. She launched forward with a textbook Blitz Strike, well almost textbook, the term implied she was wielding something that would normally be wielded in one hand, this katana was meant for two, Belle could see as much from the hilt of the weapon alone.

Belle knew that she was likely to get hit by a strike from the enemy, which was weird when her strike landed without problem, her katana was plunged into the left leg of the beast, she looked up as she tried to retract the blade to see it knock her back with a swing of its left fist, on the positive side, the katana was now out of its leg, on the negative side, it hurt like a bitch, her new outfit had no armor so she would have to flow around the enemy, oh and she had just been disarmed as the katana was laying in the river, the black blood of the beast polluting the clean water. Belle stood up which hurt quite a bit, she found herself smiling even wider now, she tried to quickly think of a plan to win and it came quick, retrieve her weapon, stick to the beasts left flank and by the Maker’s love keep swinging, or she could climb on its back and start working, yeah that sounded damn good.

Belle knew what to do, she started to do a mad dash for the river, something that would be easier if it wasn't for the internal damage which basically made every step painful, she grinned and bared it. It would have helped if the beast wasn't doing a jump attack, making the ground shake with its landing, throwing her off balance, not like it stopped her from running, she knew better than to stop, she ran into the river and picked up the katana, she held it in both hands and made way to the beast with a plan in mind, it jumped towards her and she moved into a dodge roll allowing her to move under the strike of the beast, when she exited the roll she pivoted on the spot and jumped onto its back, using its spine for a foothold and handhold, the katana was held in one hand, she moved up it's back to where it would be likely for a heart to be on the average ogre (it was the closest analogy she had available) and after ensuring that she had a firm hold, plunged the katana in with one hand, it wasn't the easiest task but she was able to do so easily, unlike an ogre it didn't have large amounts of muscle, fur and fat protecting, this had thin skin which was all too susceptible to a blade. "LET ME SEE YOU BLEED!!" Belle shouted as she began to twist the blade around in the back of the beast, rending muscles and flesh under her blade, she made a few cutting motions as well jerking the blade around, after about a solid minute of the beast trying to get her off its back she finally killed it, removing the katana from its corpse she looked at both the blade and the body with equal disgust, she flicked the blood off the blade before sheathing it "An exemplar performance" She said, the pain was getting a bit too much for her and the adrenaline from the fight was running out, she promptly collapsed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally toyed around with the idea of giving that faceless a frail but I decided against it, in terms of the combat i reasoned that due to the size of a faceless in comparison to the average person Belle would think of it as an ogre.  
> Also standard Dragon's Dogma, "oh look, a large being that can easily turn me into a bloody smear on the ground, let's kill it!"  
> Also when i said that I want merciless criticism, I meant it, go through each chapter with a fine tooth, please and inform me of any fuck-ups that I made, it is how I improve. In addition, when I put Cannon Typical Violence, there will be Fire Emblem Violence as normal, but Dragon's Dogma violence will also make its way into the mix, i.e. Peagasi are now vulnerable to fire as well.


	5. I ain't got nothing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's probably just filler, nothing important happens

Belle eventually came to, probably an hour or so later, the sun was down and Belle realised that she probably wouldn’t be able to walk that far in her current condition, her body was aching as a result of the battle, while she was not all that smart, she knew that she would need to rest a while and hope that the pain eases, she looked around and saw a city in the middle distance, if she was healthy then she could have made a good 30 minute to 1 hour dash to the city, hell she could probably be there by nightfall, if she made some good time while walking. Belle decided that resting could wait a little while and took her katana and the sheath that contained the strange blade and used it as a walking stick as she started walking towards the city, taking off some of the strain from her legs.

“What doesn’t kill you…” Belle said to herself, though going by that logic she was nearly invincible and her only weakness was her head … she decided that she should invest in a helmet, or failing that, a purple hood that she could sew onto her coat, the sun was getting annoying at this point, she was sure that her face was partially sunburnt and she didn’t like the sensation, maybe when she reached a good sized lake she’ll be able to bathe or something but first, town, see if there is a bounty board and hope that she could read it. She continued walking, even though it hurt slightly, the pain had turned into a constant numbness, of sorts, though thinking of constant numbness she remembered that she did have a potion in her bag … 

Belle immediately facepalmed, quite loudly as well, she could hear a pawn’s voice in her head saying “Only gets tougher from here master” somewhat smugly, Belle really wished that she had some company, hell, ANY company with her, just to make this journey slightly less torturous, though admittedly, those of the Pawn legion where not enjoyable company, she wondered what other Arisen thought of them. She took out the potion from her bag, the contents felt somewhat heavy in her hand, the bottle itself was made out of a ceramic, possibly clay due to the beige color, including the cork which was removed with a scraping sound, Belle sniffed the potion and it gave off a somewhat bland smell, reminded her of some desecrated herbs that she made a while back, she brought the potion to her mouth 

“Here’s hoping this doesn’t kill me…” she took a swig of it and the first thing she noticed was the bitter taste, similar to some of the tonics that she found on the Isla- she needed to forget about that place, the taste was similar to that of some of the rare tonics she had found on her adventures, it was clear that the potion she had swallowed had a healing effect, she felt some of the pain disappearing and some of her cuts, received when she botched an attempt at gutting a fish using one of the throwing knives, unfortunately for her, the left leg still hurt like a bitch, she hoped that she wouldn’t have a limp but she knew not to be optimistic, though for the first time in a while, Belle was worried about a wound, she kinda needed to be mobile to survive as she didn’t have any armor, she decided to move on, she would get herself healed properly when she got to town and that required walking, she grabbed her katana and began using it like a walking stick again though the pace of her movement had increased slightly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You didn't believe me ... DID YOU!


	6. The Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belle finally reaches her first town, now if only she could figure out what the hell a Nohrian was.

Belle had finally reached a town and the first thing that had struck her was the architecture, it was odd, the walls didn’t look like they were made out of stone or even brick, it seemed like they were made out of wood and plaster, the roofs curved too much, it looked like a parody of Gran Soren’s architecture, though she could understand why the sun was unbearably strong, it probably also justified the large cone shaped straw hats that the guards were wearing, something which seemed to block out the sun, the guards themselves were wearing strange leathery looking armor, similar to Lamellar armor in terms of appearances, both were holding long staffs with what looked like the blade of a katana on top, Belle recognized this weapon as a polesword, a new weapon that some people were experimenting with, she never thought that it would catch on, apparently she was wrong, though she heard like some could make the blade dance, the color of the armor was a glossy white, Belle felt a little bit of envy for these guards, they were fresh faced and they clearly hadn’t seen real battle before, the two were of course, chatting to each other, when Belle had reached the gate, they were still chatting, apparently it was about a prince who was going to be visiting the town soon, though it was obviously gossip and she didn't pay much attention to gossip, though she thought that would have encouraged these two to be on their best behavior but apparently not.

Belle coughed loudly alerting the two to her presence, the one on the right side of the gate jumped and almost dropped his polesword and the other hastily turned around to see her, bloody rookies. The two regained their composure after a second

“Halt traveler.” The one on the right said, trying to force some authority into his voice, it’s just a shame that he almost dropped his weapon as it made it impossible for him to retain any authority. Admittedly though she did look a bit scary, she didn’t think she cleaned all the blood off her face, that or the scars “State your name and intentions” he stated

“My name is Belle, I’m just a simple traveler, looking for work.” She stated, knowing how to deal with guards like this, the easiest way was to state a fraction of your intentions “Speaking of which do you know if there’s a request board around here?” For some reason the one on the left spat at her feet after she said that.

“Bloody Nohrian Mercenary” He said, ah so mercenaries are not accepted here, probably something to do with the whole fighting for money thing “You fight for money nothing more.” She was right but couldn’t care less

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m the scum of the earth, what else is new? Are you going to answer my question or not?” She said, her lack of patience coming to the surface.

“Fine. There’s a request board in the inn, don’t expect much there.” The one on the right said, not bothering to apologize for the behavior of his comrade.

“Merci” Belle said, moving forward only for her path to be blocked by the guards

“Who said we were letting scum like you in?” the one on the left said.

“Okay, what hoops do I have to jump through for me to be allowed in?” she said, anger slipping into her voice easily, mostly because she was angry “And make it quick, I don’t have all day.” The two guards looked at each other until they realized what they could do

“There’s a faceless near the road” The left one said pointing down the road that Belle just went down, “Kill it and we’ll let you in.”

“Faceless: dark green skin, face concealing helmet, about as tall as two men, VERY musclebound, blackish colored blood and hurts like a bitch, am I giving a good description?” Belle said, giving a brief description, the two guards nodded, “It’s already dead” she said, “killed it a while back, now if you’ll excuse me.” Belle walked forward past the stunned guards, well, not walked, more like strutted past and into town, fairly proud, fair to say she attracted a few dirty looks, okay that was suddenly a new priority, find a way to disguise her looks, the hood or even one of those straw hats were sounding more appealing every second. Though if there wasn’t anything there which paid well, she may have to slum it, or worse there may not be any jobs that involved fighting then she’d be out of a job, she didn’t know how to farm, she barely even knows how to sew clothes and this looked like a farming town.

She paused a second to look at the people, they all seemed to be wearing some kind of robes, which were predominately brown in color, it looked … nice but certainly not the sort thing she would wear, especially with its lack of purple, she really liked purple, once they saw her gaze their eyes went downwards or to the side, as if meeting her gaze might turn them to stone, they then walked slightly faster, as if to escape her gaze. Belle realized one thing though, she had no idea where she was going and she would rather have directions, she guessed she really did look like a Nohrian, whatever that was. She stopped a townswoman, “Excuse me miss.” She said, looking at the townswoman she stopped, she was slightly shorter than Belle, her hair was a deep brown and her skin was somewhat tanned, her robes were a light brown color and her hazel eyes looked terrified, she was avoiding Belle's gaze, similar to a child who was being reprimanded “I would like to ask you a question?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided that the guards would identify her as a Nohrian because that would probably be their default assumption that the person who isn't wearing a kimono and doesn't look like them might be their western neighbors and vice versa, though of course, seeing as Belle isn't from there she would just wonder what the hell was going on.  
> Also "Merci" is French for "Thanks", I figured that Belle would speak some French due to the fact that some of the nobility in Dragon's Dogma has a French accent and I'm sort of styling the elements which the game did not explain into Medieval English Court i.e. the Nobles speak French there.


End file.
